Soundwave
by Fen the Dragon
Summary: I can see and hear soundwaves. When I was twelve, I was accepted into the Xavier Institute. He told me I could control my powers. I had no idea that I would be able to save the world with them, and make a new family in the process. Starts before the show starts, goes through and beyond.
1. Chapter 1

I'm an easygoing guy. I tend not to get so angry I explode, but when a guy dressed in armor and a cape tries to take me away from my family, I do get pretty angry.

My name's Theo. Theo Lalanne. I had a pretty normal life, at least, until the aforementioned weird guy in a cape and armor came crashing down my door. I was just sitting, playing some video games on my Nintendo 64.

"Heck yeah!" I stood up from my chair, my fists in the air. My controller was in one hand, the other was shaking with adrenaline. "Ocarina of Time, you are at my mercy!" I yelled.

I was home alone. My parents were on a date (ew) and I was happy to hold down the fort while they were gone. I had just defeated Ganon for the first time. I had only just recently gotten the N64.

I brought my hand down for a fist pump when the front door to my house blew inward with a _**BOOM!**_

I quickly jumped behind the armchair, peering over it at the giant of a man coming through the door. He was wearing red, metal armor and a weird looking helmet. I would have laughed at his appearance if he wasn't threatening my life. I dearly hoped he didn't see me.

I looked around for something to defend myself with. One of dad's canes was leaning on the wall, but I couldn't reach it without being spotted by the guy in the armor.

"I know you are here, Theodore," he spoke. His voice was deep and rich sounding. "I'm not here to hurt you." I didn't trust the guy for a second.

Ignoring my screaming sense of self preservation, I stood up, my twelve year old body barely reaching the man's shoulder. "I'm here. What do you want?" I asked. My legs were shaking with fear, but the big armchair was blocking the man's view.

"You have power. Power your parents never understood," the man said. I narrowed my eyes.

"No I don't. I'm just a normal kid," I replied. All I could see of the man's face was two glowing eyes. I was looking for an escape route, but there was none. The garage would take too long, and so would the back door.

"That's a lie. I know you have power. You should not have to hide it. Embrace the power. I can help you control it," the man said. I just about fainted when he started floating.

"Why are you asking about this?" I asked.

"I can help you. Train you to strike at the people who would hunt you and hurt you," he replied. I was confused. No one wanted to hurt me, well except for the mean boys at school, but I didn't think that was what he was talking about.

"No one has tried to hurt me," I said.

"Because of your mutation, they will. Even your family."

"W- what about my family?" I asked. "They wouldn't do that," I said. I had balls for a twelve year old.

"Yes they would. I will protect you from them," he said.

"I don't want your help," I snarled. "Just go away!"

"If you won't come with me willingly, I'll just take you by force!" I wasn't exactly the smartest kid in the world, but I did know when someone was threatening me.

My eyes narrowed. "NO!" I yelled. But the yell was louder than it should have been. I could feel it leaving my lungs. Getting bigger, more forceful. "GO AWAY!" I yelled even louder, the sound so loud, it caused my ears to ring. The man took a step back from the force of the sound.

He started forward, but before he could get very far, I saw someone leap through the hole that was the front door. He was dressed in an orange costume of some sort, with claws coming out of his hands.

I scrambled back as the new guy started attacking the first guy. The guy in orange seemed to be winning, until the first guy lifted him without touching him.

I looked for a way out, trying to get away from this nightmare. Through my ringing ears, I heard the guy in orange yell, "Run, kid!" I wasn't gonna stick around to see the end.

I ran past them, through the front door, barely dodging the armor guy's swing to catch me. As I ran by, I picked up my dad's cane. I had no idea how to defend myself, but I felt better with it in my hands.

Outside, I found a giant plane in the middle of the street. I stared at it for a second before running. My ears had finally stopped ringing, and I could hear sounds of destruction from the house.

I was startled by a hand falling on my shoulder from behind. I whirled around, swinging the cane up at an angle, trying to hit the person in the head. I was startled when the cane sailed over the man's head. He was in a wheelchair. I backed away, holding my cane in what I thought was a defensive position.

He didn't open his mouth, but I heard him clearly in my head. _Everything is alright, Theodore. Be calm. We are here to help._

I clutched my head. _What is all this? How does he know my name?_ Normally, I don't get an answer when I ask something in my head. I nearly passed out when I got one.

 _Just be calm. We will explain later. For now, just stay put._

I looked around, before realizing it must be the bald guy in front of me. I leaned on the wooden cane. He must have taken my silence as an answer, because he promptly turned around and went toward the door.

"Go away, Charles!" I heard the guy in red armor yell over the sounds of battle. "Your mind tricks will not work on me!"

"Eric, leave the boy alone! He has no part in this!" I heard the voice from my head yell. 

"Fine, Charles, but my debt to you is now paid! You can start your little X-men with this boy!" The man who broke into my home yelled, before flying away.

I sighed. I looked up at the man flying away and promptly fainted.

/X\

When I woke up, I found my parents kneeling over me, the cane still clutched in my hands.

"Theodore, are you alright? Speak to me, son," my dad said. Everything felt weird. I could hear Dad like he was right up against my ear talking loudly, but he was talking softly.

"It's been a weird day, Dad," I said. I sat up, with some help from my parents, and looked at the front door, which had been obliterated when I passed out.

It wasn't. It was completely fine. I shoved the new feeling to the side as I looked at my parents. "Wha- what happened to the front door? It was destroyed," I asked.

My parents looked at me confusedly. "Theo, it's completely fine. Let's go inside. You were just sleepwalking," Mom said. I nodded, but something felt off. That was too real to be a dream.

Dad took his cane back as we walked into the house with my parents supporting me. I looked around. There was no sign of any damage done by the guy in the red armor and the claw guy. 

My parents ushered me to my room and closed the door, but I could still hear them talking in the den. I pressed my ear against the door and closed my eyes. Suddenly, I could almost see where the sound was exiting my parents' mouths.

I knew that sound was created in waves from school, but I knew I shouldn't be able to see them. I could almost see where the sound was exiting from my parent's mouths, bouncing off the furniture and the walls. But with that, I could also hear them as well. 

I opened my eyes and fell backwards in shock. I could still detect the sound waves, but I could barely make out what my parents were saying through all the other noises.

I closed my eyes again, trying to ignore all the sounds and just focus on what my parents were saying, but I couldn't. All the sounds, from the television to my parent's motions to their words, I couldn't concentrate.

I could see the small sound waves from the water through the pipes, from the neighbors next door waking up from a nap to the small insects in the lawn. I could see all the sound waves from up and down my street. I could hear the neighbor's yawn and the crickets' quiet chirp as the night got darker.

I could see where the sound waves bounced off objects, slightly going through some. It was amazing, but I couldn't concentrate. It hurt my head horribly.

My hands flew to my head and I fell to my knees. I heard someone come to the door, ringing the doorbell. The sound bounced through the house, causing me to scream in pain. It was so loud, and the waves bounced everywhere; it blocked out everything.

My dad went to the door while my mom investigated my scream. She opened the door, and the sound of its unoiled hinges squealing nearly knocked me flat.

Mom enveloped me in a hug, but just the sound of her clothes rustling from so close hurt. Tears leaked from my eyes. I vaguely heard someone talking to Dad on the porch.

Dad's voice got louder and I screamed. I couldn't handle it anymore. I could feel myself slipping into unconsciousness from the overload when suddenly, Mom let go and it all went away.

I felt all the sounds go away. I could still hear like normal, but not to the extent it was at. I looked up to see the man in the wheelchair who was in my mind resting his hand on my forehead. 

He smiled at me, and I smiled back. I stood up shakily, "Thanks sir," I said. He removed his hand, and I tensed for the sounds to come back, but they didn't. "How'd you do that?" I asked.

He smiled. "It's a rather long story," he said, turning to my parents. "Would you now consider my offer?" he asked.

I cocked my head. "What offer?" 

He turned his wheelchair to look at me. "To come to my school. The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters."


	2. Chapter 2

We flew the jet to the Institute, which didn't take very long. Apparently the SR77 Blackbird was even faster than the SR71. I wanted to fly it so bad, I could taste it. When we got to the Institute, however, I almost forgot about the plane.

"It's big," I said. I looked down at the Professor in his wheelchair. He smiled and nodded.

We were looking at the mansion where the Institute was located. I was already enraptured by the amazing gardens and statues around it, but the mansion itself was even better.

"That it is," he said. "Let me introduce you to everyone," he said. We walked in to the giant foyer, and I was awestruck at the beauty of the place. There was a beautiful staircase leading to a large hall and beautiful statues lining the walls. It just screamed wealth.

"I'll get to live _here_?" I asked the Professor with a large smile on my face.

He smiled and replied, "Yes, you will. Let me introduce you to the faculty at the Institute." Two people came down the staircase. The Professor started naming them off.

"This is Ororo Munroe and Logan, our two teachers here," the professor said. I looked at him,confused.

"Aren't there more?" I asked. The large man, presumably Logan, answered.

"There are only three students here, bub. You and two others," he said. I looked at the Professor.

"Do they have abilities too?" I asked. All three of the adults nodded.

"Theodore," the Professor called, "we will need to start mastering your powers quickly. I made a block in your brain, but I cannot hold it forever."

I nodded. "Can we start tomorrow? I want to meet my classmates," I responded. The Professor thought for a moment and nodded.

"I'll take you to see them. Their names are Scott Summers and Jean Grey."

/X\

Scott and Jean were pretty cool. Scott could shoot lasers out of his eyes, and Jean could move things with her mind. They were each a year older than me.

"So what's your ability?" Jean asked. I looked at my feet, unaccustomed to being addressed by a girl directly. And Jean wasn't exactly ugly either.

"I... uh... I can see sound waves, I think," I said. Jean and Scott looked at me incredulously.

"You think?" Scott asked. I looked down at my feet.

"The Professor said he would help me out, but I only discovered my powers yesterday."

"Interesting," Jean replied, and smiled. "Welcome to the family, Theo."

I looked up and smiled. Scott, Jean, and I talked for several hours. I talked about my life back in Northern Nevada, the place no one knows exists.

Jean talked about her family a lot, but Scott didn't really talk about his much. I wondered if his family didn't like him being a mutant, but I didn't think that was the case.

Eventually, the Professor called us to come back in for dinner and to go to bed. I followed Scott and Jean to a dining room, where all the faculty was sitting already.

I sat down in between Scott and Jean, across from Logan, who was giving me the stink eye. I made eye contact and narrowed my eyes. Logan just laughed and served himself.

I didn't talk much during the meal, but the adults did. Scott and Jean talked around me, but I was still pretty uncomfortable in the new environment. I had completely stopped listening until I heard my name being called.

"So, Theodore, how do you like the Institute?" Ms. Munroe asked.

I looked up from my plate of food. "It's pretty cool, Ms. Munroe. I think I'll have a good time here," I replied.

She laughed, "Please, Theodore, call me Storm. Everyone does."

I smiled. "Then please call me Theo, Storm," I replied.

"Is that your ability?" I asked her. She looked at me confused. "Do you make storms?"

"Yes," she replied. "I control the air and can control the weather."

"Cool," I said. I turned to the man in front of me. "What do you do, Mr. Logan?"

Logan eyed me from across the table before ejecting his three claws and stabbing three pieces of fruit from the bowl on the table.

"A simple, 'I eject three metal claws from my knuckles' would have sufficed, Mr. Logan," I said.

He looked at me incredulously. I thought he was going to spear me with his claws before he chuckled and sheathed his claws.

"You got spirit, kid. No brains, but spirit," he said.

That was basically the end of dinner.

When I woke up the next morning, I wandered to the dining room, where the Professor was waiting for me. "Theodore, it is time to work on controlling your powers. Are you ready?" he asked.

I looked around. "Can we do this where no one will see us?" I asked. I didn't want anyone to see me weak.

He nodded and led me to an empty room. Closing the door, he looked at me and nodded. "Are you ready?"

I nodded slowly, and he put his hands on his temples. Gradually, all the sounds came back, and I could see the sound waves again. I looked around and sensed all the sounds around me. I could sense Scott and Jean talking in the dining hall. Storm was tending to a garden. Logan was hitting a punching bag.

Then everything started to go haywire. I could sense the sound waves hitting everything. The people, the bugs, the water. My head started to hurt again.

Then I heard the Professor's voice in my head, clear as day. _Focus, Theodore. Shut out the sounds. Focus on only me._ I tried to focus. I opened my eyes and locked gazes with the Professor. Gradually, all the sounds went away, until I could only hear the room around me. I could hear my heartbeat, as well as the Professor's.

 _Good, Theodore. Now, focus on using only your ears, not your sixth sense to perceive the waves._

I tried shutting out the sound waves. I was able to focus on only the room around me, but not shut out the waves completely. In my mind, I imagined pushing the waves down, suppressing them.

I imagined pushing the sound waves in the room away. After a few minutes, I didn't sense the sound waves. I sighed in relief, but I didn't hear it. I looked frantically at the Professor.

I saw him laugh, but I couldn't hear it. It was like wearing really good earplugs.

 _Theodore, you apparently can control sound itself, as well as detect sound waves._

I looked at him in surprise and imagined letting go of the sound waves, but I tried to ignore them. I could suddenly hear everything in the room again, the breeze outside to the Professor's heartbeat.

I realized what I needed to do. _Ignore the waves, but still be able to hear... This'll take a while._


	3. Chapter 3

And it did. It took me almost two years to learn how to block out the sound waves while still being able to hear. It took me another year to be able to manipulate sound waves with any measure of control. For the past year I have been learning how to use my abilities in a fight, as well as everyday use.

I learned that there were limits to my abilities: I couldn't magnify a sound past a certain point. With a snap, I could break someone's eardrums. With a yell, I could blow a door off its hinges. It was all about the direction and energy I directed to a specific point. 

However, with a really loud sound, like an explosion, I could destroy things or create massive shock waves to hurt enemies. As my powers increased, however, I could use smaller sounds to do bigger jobs.

I could also do the opposite. I could decrease the sound of anything by suppressing the sound waves or deflecting them from people's ears.

The last part of my powers was that I could map out a room using the sound waves. Like echolocation, except I'm not blind.

I hadn't seen my family in all that time. They didn't want to talk to their son who was _abnormal_. I missed them all the time, but all my calls were picked up by the machine.

The Professor enrolled Scott, Jean, and I in a local high school once we were old enough. They joined a year before I did, so they were Sophomores when I was a Freshman. I was just happy he didn't make us go to middle school. I was already having enough problems without other tweenagers having problems as well. Gross.

Once I was sane enough with my powers, Logan started teaching me combat and self defense. He let me choose a weapon to fight with. He said Scott chose to only use his powers, and so did Jean.

I asked to be taught in the staff, Kali (two, 24 inch sticks), and the cane. Logan was surprised when I told him.

" _Three different weapons?" Logan asked. "This won't be easy, and I'm not exactly an expert in cane fighting. And why a cane of all things?I understand the staff and Kali, but cane?"_

 _I looked him in the eyes. I was only an inch or two shorter than him._

" _I like it. It's unassuming. Camouflage," I responded._

 _Logan smirked. "Good choice."_

We trained often, and I got pretty good at all three, but the can was my favorite. I liked using a plain wooden one, just with a wider hook than most.

There were no more new mutants. I asked Jean and Scott about it when I first got to the Institute.

" _Hey guys, why aren't there more mutants at the Institute?" I asked.  
_

 _Scott shrugged. Jean replied, "The Professor wouldn't say anything about it, but I think they're out there, they just haven't discovered their powers yet."_

 _I was confused. "But, I've seen other mutants before. They tried to recruit me before the Professor did," I said._

 _They looked at me, confused. "We've never heard anything about anything like that," Scott said._

I haven't mentioned that story since.

We didn't get any new mutants until my Sophomore and their Junior year of high school. That was also the day after the first incident involving out powers at school.

We were at a football game. The Bayville Hawks were winning against their opponents, 49 – 17. I was with the band, though thankfully not in the horrible uniforms we normally wore. I could play the trumpet pretty well, better than most. Even with my enhanced hearing, I could withstand loud sounds, like an entire marching band.

Scott was sitting with one of his friends not too far away. Jean was on the sidelines taking pictures. I knew she had a crush on the quarterback, Duncan Matthews, and so did Scott. He hated it. I thought it was hilarious.

We were in the second half of the game when I noticed Scott motioning for me to come with him. I told my section leader I had to use the restroom before following him. We met at the bottom of the bleachers.

"What's up, Scott?" I asked.

He pointed toward the back of the bleachers, where we could see someone hanging from the seats, taking people's wallets from their pockets. "Someone's taking up a collection," he remarked.

I nodded and walked toward the boy, but before we could get there, I saw three football players walk up to him and start harassing him. Even though it was a ways away, I could hear them perfectly.

"If it ain't Toadey Tolansky pickin' up a little spare change," I heard. It was Duncan Matthews, the guy Jean had a huge crush on.

We started walking as Toad responded. "Uh-uh, hey, Duncan. Look, I can explain-" he started, but was interrupted.

"Shut up, Frog face!" Duncan yelled, grabbing Toad by the collar and pushing him up against the support beam.

"Let's crush him, Dunk," said one of the other football players.

I decided that was a good time to interject. "How 'bout no," I said, Scott by my side.

"Just chill," added Scott. "The wallets are still there, how about we have him return the cash, no harm done."

I smirked. Toad hastily agreed, holding up some of the cash he stole.

Duncan turned toward us, "Why do you care about this, Summers? And who's this guy, your new boyfriend?"

I clenched my fists. I wasn't against homosexuality, but I was against assholes. And he just proved he was one.

"Duncan, back off," I growled. He and his buddies just smirked.

"Me and my buddies are going to crush this slimeball, and you and your _boyfriend_ can piss off somewhere else," he said before slamming Toad to the ground.

He started to lift his foot up to kick Toad, but Scott slammed into him. "Back off!" he yelled.

I saw Duncan's cronies coming up behind Scott, and I ran toward them, spreading my arms, catching both in a bear hug. I slammed them both to the ground as Toad ran away, hopping. _Weird._

"He's getting away!" One of the cronies yelled. They both ran after Toad, leaving Duncan in the mud.

He got up, growling. He was mad. Really mad. He got up to punch Scott, but I grabbed his arm, effectively stopping the punch. I heard someone coming around the edge of the bleachers.

"Theo, Scott, no!" I heard Jean yell, distracting both me and Scott.

Duncan shook me off and punched Scott square in the face, knocking him back and the sunglasses off his face.

I just barely dodged the red barrage of energy erupting from Scott's eyes. Duncan didn't know it was coming, so he got the full brunt of the energy, knocking him back over ten feet. Scott was able to shut his eyes quickly, but not in time to avoid causing an explosion from somewhere.

I covered my ears and shut my eyes as I felt the powerful sound waves erupt from the explosion. Once it was over I looked at Scott. "Boom."

Scott turned his head toward me. "Boom."

I brought Scott his sunglasses just as the ambulances arrived. They immediately checked up on Duncan, ignoring us. When the Professor arrived, he was giving us a look of "I'm not angry, just disappointed" that every parent-like person has somehow mastered.

Toad came over to talk to us. "Thanks, really, you know?"

I nodded as Scott replied, "Yeah."

/X\

That Toad guy weirded me out. I just couldn't place it, but something felt... off about him. And I sensed something coming out of his mouth, like a tongue, silencing a fly.

I pushed the thoughts away as I went to sleep for the night, down the hall from Scott and Jean. It took me a while; it's hard to relax with all the sounds of the night ringing through my head, but I was in a mostly soundproof room, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

I dreamt of a world where I didn't have powers. I was still with my parents in Northern Nevada, my dad was teaching me how to drive. I didn't like it.

When I woke up, I heard Scott banging on the door to the bathroom. Jean was in there, brushing her hair. "I'm almost done!" I heard her yell.

"Do you want me to blow down this door or..." Scott's voice trailed off as I felt Jean step out of the bathroom.

"So, are we going, or what?" she asked. I felt them walking down the hall as I weakly grabbed the blankets to throw them off of me. I knew I woke up late, but I just needed to get dressed and eat breakfast.

I quickly put on some new clothes and deodorant and walked outside, where the Professor was introducing someone in a hooded trenchcoat to Scott and Jean.

"Morning," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"Ah, Theodore, this is Kurt Wagner, a new addition to the Institute. I was just introducing him to Scott and Jean; he arrived late last night," the Professor said.

I put out my hand with a smile, "Hi."

Kurt was reluctant to take his hand out of his pocket, but the Professor put him at ease.

"Kurt, you are among friends here."

Kurt slowly took his hand out of his pocket and put it towards mine. I was very surprised to find that is was blue, three fingered, and furry, but I tried not to show it on my face as I shook his hand.

The Professor cleared his throat and continued, "I was just telling Kurt, before you all arrived, about how I set up this institute for gifted youngsters. Youngsters who's gifts are not always an asset. Right boys?" He gave Scott and I a pointed look.

"Uh..." I started, but Scott cut me off.

"You heard about that?" he asked.

"Well, it _was_ on every news channel," the Professor countered.

"It was an accident. Scott was taken by surprise. Sorry, Professor," I added.

"It's alright. Luckily, we were not discovered, but you must learn to be more careful, especially you, Scott. We will talk more when you get back from school. I will be helping Kurt settle in," he replied.

We were about to leave when Jean suddenly asked, "What is your special ability, Kurt?"

He pulled down his hood, revealing an angular blue face with long blue hair. He suddenly disappeared in a flash of smoke, reappearing a second later across the room. "You tell me," he said with a smile.

We could only stare in amasement for a few seconds before we had to run to get to school on time.

For me, the day went by pretty regularly. I didn't see Scott or Jean throughout the day. I didn't have many friends outside of them and the other band nerds, so we didn't hang out at lunch either.

I was on my way to the band room, where I ate lunch, when I smelled something horribly disgusting. I looked around to see Toad from the night before. We were going in opposite directions, so I just nodded in greeting while trying to not scrunch up my nose. He ignored me and kept heading down the row of lockers, where there were just a few stragglers left.

I ignored the conversations as I passed by, but when I heard Scott talking behind me, I started to listen and focus on the bouncing sound waves near him.

I heard Toad's voice come up near him. "Yo, Summers."

I felt Toad move up and around, and I looked behind me to see Toad was on top of the lockers. I was impressed; that was not something a normal teenager could do. Scott looked around, but I don't think he saw me. I was pretty far down the hall and had to strain to hear them.

"What's up? I just passed the other guy who was with you. What was his name? Thelma Teddy? Somethin' like that" Toad remarked. I frowned; I hated it when people called me Teddy.

"Theo. That's quite a jump, Toad," Scott replied.

"Like it? Surprised you could see it through them smokeys o' yours. Here, let me help." I heard something long and thin come out of Toad's mouth. I turned around to see a long tongue coming out of his mouth, sticking to Scott's glasses and pulling them off.

"Hey!" yelled Scott.

I started back down the hallway. Scott had control, but I didn't want to see him accidentally blow a hole through the school wall.

I projected my voice so they could hear me, and in the deepest, most menacing voice I could muster, said, "Give them back Toad,"

I saw him look around, so I ducked into a doorway. He looked back at Scott. "Yo, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Scott asked, I was sure he heard it, but he recognized my voice.

"That voice... it was comin' out of the air or somethin'," said Toad.

"Do not start something you cannot finish, Toad," I hissed, still behind the lockers.

I heard Toad frightfully give back the glasses before hopping away.

"I'm outta here, man. I don't like creepy, bodiless voices. Uh-uh."

I walked to go eat lunch as Scott went to the payphone to call the Professor. We both knew Toad was a mutant now.

The next time I saw Toad again was when he and Nightcrawler teleported into the Danger Room. We had been filled in on the Professor's plan already, but we hadn't really expected it to go much farther than the entryway.

All of us were just pulling on our suits to do a session ourselves when alarms started going off and we heard the Professor in our heads. _Kurt and Toad are in the Danger Room!_

"It's got automated defenses!" said Scott in panic as he struggled to get his last boot on.

"It's gonna attack them with everything it's got!" added Jean.

"I know guys, you don't need to tell me," I responded, taking my weight off of my cane and pulling it up, running for the door. Jean and I had already finished putting on our suits, mine being black with a small, gray X in the center of my chest with the signature shoulder pads and a gray belt.

We opened the door to see Nightcrawler flipping around the room, avoiding energy blasts from the cannons and the whirling tentacles.

"I got the cannons, Jean, keep them clear of the tentacles, Theo, destroy them," ordered Cyclops. I nodded as I ran toward one of the tentacles not currently attacking Toad or Nightcrawler.

It turned towards me, showing a set of razor-sharp cutting blades. I leaned back as I just barely dodged the blades going for my face. I stood back up, bending my knees and readying my cane.

As the tentacle shot back at me for another attack, I brought my cane up, getting the hook around the tentacle and pulled it sideways. The tentacle was caught, and I used the momentary window I had to run toward the base of the tentacle.

I got to the wall, where the base of the tentacle was. I looked inside the compartment to see lots of wires that I had no idea what were used for.

I felt the tentacle coming up behind me and ducked just in time for its blades to snap over my head and hit the wall with a _**BANG!**_

I quickly took control of the sound waves bouncing from the impact and directed them toward the wires, increasing the energy as much as I could. The waves sliced through the wires, effectively disabling the tentacle.

All of this took about twenty seconds.

I looked around and found Toad about to be crushed by the wall and a panel rising from the floor. I ran toward him as fast as I could as he tried to climb out. Just as he was about to be crushed, I extended my cane and hooked it around his neck, dragging him out of the way of the wall.

"Theo, Tolansky, over here!" I heard Scott yell.

I pushed Toad toward him as I kept another tentacle from slicing his face off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Professor at the control center.

I heard him use a security override as I parried yet another tentacle away with the hook of my cane. Suddenly, the whole area seemed to quiet down as the Professor overrode the security protocols.

"Oh, now I get it! It's a training area!" Kurt said from where he was being held telepathically by Jean.

I looked over to see him teleport away, reappearing on top of one of the turrets. "Vatch. I just pull zhe plug and- WOAH!" he yelled as the turret swung around, firing random laser blasts. It was able to hit the area where Toad and Cyclops were before Storm destroyed it with a lightning blast.

I ran over to Cyclops and Toad as everything receded back into the compartments in the walls and ceiling.

"Forget this, man! I've seen enough. I am outta here," Toad said, hopping out of the danger room. Scott yelled after him, but I just shook my head.

"He wasn't ready to be an X-Man," I said to console him.

"I blew it too, Professor. I'm sorry. You've been wonderful, but I guess, I- I just don't belong here!" said Kurt before teleporting away.

"Nightcrawler, wait!" the Professor tried.

I opened my ears. I looked for movement beyond the danger room in the sound waves. My head started to hurt a little bit, but I detected him in the X-Jet hangar. I also detected the return of Logan, but I figured the Professor already knew about that.

"I got it, Professor," I said, walking out of the Danger Room. I got to the hangar to see Kurt ogling the plane.

"That's the SR-77 Blackbird," I said as Kurt looked at me. "Twice as fast as the SR-71 model, with actual weapons and three times the range. We call it the X-Jet."

"Is it yours? Please tell me you get to fly it?" he asked with a smile. I smiled back.

"It's all of ours. If you stay awhile, I'll even teach you how to fly it."I put my hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to stay? You'd be a great addition to the X-Men, as well as a good friend."

"But, I nearly got all of you killed a few minutes ago," he countered, looking downcast.

"Pshh," I said, "that was nothing. You should have seen when Scott and I accidentally walked in on Jean taking a shower. Killer tentacles, try killer lady telepath."

Kurt laughed. "We all mess up, Kurt. It's what we learn and how we grow from those mistakes that make us a cut above the rest," I said.

"And- and you don't mind zhe way I look?" he asked.

I smiled. "Just don't make any old man jokes, and we'll be good."

Kurt smiled, "We have a deal zhen."

I wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "Come on, I'll show you where Storm hides the cookies she bakes. Don't tell her I know about them. She's kinda defensive about it."


	4. Chapter 4

You know those days when everything seems to be falling apart around you, and you are the one who has to clean it all up? Yeah, this wasn't one of _those_ days, but it came pretty close.

Because of my mission to become a melee weapons expert on the X-men team, something I only recently set out to do, I had extra practices with Logan, on top of the Danger Room sessions the whole team does every couple of days. Thankfully, they didn't happen every day. Just the days I didn't already have something going on, like band or a normal Danger Room session.

The day, a Thursday, started out pretty normal. I had my cane in both my hands, holding it vertically in front of my chest. My eyes were closed. I took a deep breath and opened them. Logan was staring back at me, a wooden baton in each hand.

Without warning, he rushed me, swinging both batons in a horizontal arc. I quickly brought my cane up to block them, covering my side and head. I blocked a knee from him with my palm. I swear it almost broke my wrist. I slid the cane up, hoping to catch one of the batons, but Logan was too fast.

He brought the batons away, coming in for a double strike, one for the head, one for the gut. I sidestepped and put my cane in between the batons and me. They ricocheted off and Logan brought them around the other side, one after the other.

I blocked one with the cane and stepped forward, into Logan's chest, knocking his arm away and stepping inside his guard. I brought my fist up in an uppercut to his jaw, which sent him reeling, but it probably hurt my hand more than his jaw because of his metal bones.

I pressed the attack, swinging the hook of my cane towards his knee. He moved his leg, but I just got the hook around the other one and pulled. I was concentrating on his legs so much, I forgot to keep on the lookout for his batons.

One came swinging from the side, towards my face, just before Logan was going to go down. Luckily, because of the pull on his leg from my cane, the baton missed, but it did hit my free arm, causing me to scream in pain. I brought my other hand to the painful spot, passing my cane to the injured arm.

I glared at Logan as he got up. This was the deal. Fight until Logan said not to. I already knew the basics. Sweat rolled off of me in rivulets as I tried not to scream again in pain.

"Geez, Logan. Were you trying to kill me?" I asked, still clutching my arm. The pain hadn't faded. I didn't think it was broken, but it would definitely be black and purple for several weeks.

Logan smirked. I was keeping about ten feet in between us as we started circling around each other. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead, kid," he replied. I glanced at the clock, forty five minutes until school started.

My one moment of distraction was all Logan needed to leap at me. He didn't have his weapons, but he was a living one, even without his claws. I jumped out of the way, bringing my cane up to block an incoming kick from him. This was the hardest part of the session.

Logan wasn't very good with weapons. He was, however, amazing at hand-to-hand or hand-to-weapon combat. He threw a quick series of punches and kicks I hurriedly blocked with my cane. It was like the guy couldn't feel pain when he was fighting. His healing factor wasn't fun to deal with either.

I feinted a jab to his knee (which he didn't go for) and brought the hook of my cane around his neck, pulling him in. His nose met my fist, but he also tackled me to the ground. He got his hands around my neck, straddling me with hatred in his eyes.

I matched his glare and glanced down at his waistline. He saw where my eyes went and growled, "Don't even think about it."

I smirked and tapped out. As I got up, I rolled up the sleeve of my training uniform. A nasty, green, and yellow bruise was starting to form where the baton hit my arm. I raised an eyebrow at Logan.

"It's like a painting of just how much those batons hurt," I remarked.

He looked me in the eyes. "You're a wimp."

 _Theodore, please come to the Cerebro room, please,_ I heard in my head.

 _Can I at least take a shower first?_ I asked.

 _Yes, but please hurry,_ was the reply.

After a quick shower to wash off the stink of fighting Logan, I made my way to the Cerebro room with my school supplies, where Jean and the Professor were waiting for me.

"Sorry," I said as I walked into the large alcove behind the picture frame. "What's goin' on?" I asked.

"We are going to Ohio," said the Professor. He glanced at me.

"Let me see your arm, Theodore." I rolled up my sleeve to show him the large bruise. "It's going to hurt for a long time. Would you like any mediation?" the Professor asked as Jean winced.

"No, thanks. It'll just help me do better next time," I replied.

/X\

The actual trip to Ohio wasn't all that bad. Jean was the first to talk on the fifteen minute flight to Ohio from New York in the X-Jet.

"So why us? Why not Kurt and Scott?" she asked.

"Because you are the best one to connect with this girl, Kitty Pryde," the Professor replied.

"What about me, Professor?" I asked.

"Theodore, you will be there to help convince another mutant to join the Institute, a Lance Alvers," he said.

I nodded. "What's he like?" I asked.

"He is a foster child, but otherwise, I have no idea. Now, both of you be on your best behavior. You are the models of what the Institute is offering. No pressure," he added.

"At least we missed midterms," I joked.

We arrived at the girl's house first. I knocked on the door and stepped behind the Professor.

The man who opened the door was an older man, probably in his forties, but still with only a few gray hairs in his head. Behind him was his wife.

"Hello, Mister and Mrs Pryde, I am Charles Xavier. These are two of my students, Theodore Lalanne and Jean Grey. Is Kitty home ? We are here to speak with her," said the Professor.

"What are you talking about? How do you know Kitty?" asked Mrs. Pryde, she and her husband coming through the door onto the patio.

"Please, may we come in for a moment?" asked Jean. "We'll answer all your questions and anything you need-"

"Excuse me, miss," interrupted Mr. Pryde. "You can talk to us out here."

"Very well," replied the Professor, leaning on his armrest. "I think you know Kitty is going through a very... unique transition. We simply want to help her through it."

Everything seemed pretty reasonable. Until the Professor opened his mouth again.

For whatever reason, I knew it was coming. "Why don't you tell us about last night?" he asked.

These guys didn't know we were mutants. They were scared. I was actually a little surprised at the forwardness of the Professor. But I couldn't think of any better way to go about talking about it, so I shrugged it aside.

The Prydes looked surprised, obviously, before Mr. Pryde's surprise turned to anger. "Last night was none of your business! Please, just leave us alone!" he said, taking his wife by the shoulder and leading her back inside.

I could hear them talking on the other side of the door. "What's going on?" I heard Mrs. Pryde ask.

"I don't know, honey. I don't know," Mr. Pryde replied.

"That went well," I remarked."

Jean looked at me in distaste. "You didn't even say anything!" she said, glaring at me.

"There was nothing to be said," I replied. "You don't just ask to go inside someone's house when they don't know you, Jean."

She was about to reply with another strongly worded reply, when the Professor cut her off.

"Both of you, stop fighting," he said. "Since we will not be able to convince her parents, we will have to talk to Kitty directly. Theo, you will be on the lookout for Lance. Understood?" he asked, looking into each of our eyes.

"Yes, Professor," we replied.

We came into the school just a the bell rang, signaling the end of a class period. I looked to the Professor. "What do we do?" I asked. I checked my watch, it was 12:33. Probably ending lunch, not a class.

"Search," was the Professor's reply. I nodded an slipped into the multitude of students in the hallways. I was already shown a picture of both of the mutants we were trying to find, but I had no idea where to start looking.

Apparently, I was in luck. The sound had thinned out enough to where I could hear individual conversations through the halls. I could sense some girls whispering to each other, with another close by, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

I walked down the halls. Jean had gone someplace else to look for Kitty and Lance. As I got closer to the three girls, I could somewhat make out what they were saying.

"Dreading... doubt. Probably... class... acing" said one of the girls.

"Let give her... off," the other replied. I sensed them going behind the third girl and pushing her into a locker.

I sighed and picked up my pace. The girl in the locker was yelling so loud, I could hear her perfectly.

"Hey! Let me out, you jerks! Open this door! Ugh!" she yelled. As I got to her locker, I heard her yell again, "Someone, open this door!"

"Hey!" I yelled over her banging her fists against the door. "Hey! What's your combi-" I started.

I was interrupted by a girl, a little younger than me, crashing through the door, but it remained shut. She knocked me to the floor. She hurriedly got up off of me.

I got a better look at her face as I got up. It was the girl I had been looking for, Kitty Pryde. I must have had a look on my face, because she narrowed her eyebrows and looked at me weirdly as she dusted herself off.

"What?" she asked.

I chuckled a little bit. "Kitty Pryde, right?" I asked.

She looked at me warily, taking half a step back. "Who's asking?" she asked.

"My name's Theodore Lalanne, but everyone calls me Theo," I replied. She nodded slowly. "I, uh, I was sent to talk to you. About the stuff going on in your life right now," I continued.

Kitty took another step back. "Nothing is going on in my life right now," she said defensively. "I gotta go, don't want to be late for the next class," she said, before sprinting off.

"You just crashed through a closed door!" I called, but I was met with silence. I debated running after her, but the door to the boy's bathroom opened behind me and out popped a boy with long, dark hair and a can of spray paint in his hand. I shook my head in disbelief. It was Lance Alvers, the other mutant we were trying to convince to join the Institute.

"Are you Lance Alvers?" I asked. He froze and looked at me. He glanced at the spray paint in his hand. I heard his heart rate speed up. I sighed.

Lance took off in the other direction, dropping the spray can as he went. I thought about going after him, but decided against it. I called to Jean telepathically. I basically thought really "loud."

 _JEAN!_ I thought.

 _What's going on, Theo?_ she responded.

 _I just found both Kitty and Lance,_ I thought.

 _Wow... that was fast,_ she responded. I could "hear" the amusement in her telepathic voice.

 _Yup. Kitty is in the PE class going on right now. I heard some mean girls say that just before they pushed her into a locker. I'm going to look for Lance,_ I thought as I started walking in the same direction Lance ran off to. I could hear him, still running.

Jean didn't really respond back, she just sent kind of an acknowledgment of what I said. I started to jog after Lance. I heard him go up onto the roof, along with two other people, most likely his friends or cohorts.

I went the same route Lance did. I didn't care to listen to what he was saying until found him. When I did, he was clutching another boy's arm. "You ridin' me, Griff?" The school started to shake, I peered at Lance, but was able to keep my balance. "Are ya?" Lance continued. I could feel some type of wave coming out of his hands. Low frequency, enough to dislodge rock.

I took the waves he was using, basically low-frequency sound waves, and suppressed them, confining them to about a one foot radius around his hands. It took a lot more energy than I had expected. If he had been emitting a stronger wave, I wouldn't have been able to hold them in.

"Hey!" he yelled, looking around. I decided to make my presence known. I raised my hand to give an impressive (in my opinion) visual effect and stepped forward.

"Lance Alvers, age seventeen. Put into the foster care system as a child. Ability to control low-frequency sound waves to dislodge rock and cause earthquakes," I said. In a menacing voice, I directed the my voice to the other boys. "Scram," I said.

The other boys with Lance ran away, but Lance looked ready for a fight. I dropped my hand; the seismic waves had stopped. "Who are you?" he asked.

"My name's Theo, and I really would like to talk to you for a moment, Lance," I said. He just glared at me.

"Go away," he said. He raised his hand to emit another wave, but I suppressed it again. He increased the power of the wave, and I put up more energy to suppress it. He raised his other hand, his way of increasing his power, and I put up mine. I don't know if it helped, but it felt better.

He increased the power even more, and I couldn't suppress it anymore. I could tell that he knew he was winning, and he directed all the waves toward me. With a grunt, I deflected the waves in another direction.

They shot toward the track field, tearing up the ground. We both watched, our battle completely out of our minds, as it headed for the long jump line, just in time to mess up a girl's jump. She fell flat on her butt and the sand from the ground leaped up and covered her from head to toe.

I couldn't help it. I snickered a little bit. Lance looked at me weirdly for a second before he started laughing too. Before long we were both clutching the edge of the roof, laughing hysterically.

"My name's Theo, we met in the hall," I said, straightening up and holding out my hand.

Lance took it and replied, "My name's Lance Alvers. How do you do that?"

I smiled. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about," I said. "I'm inviting you to join an institute for people like us."

He looked at me surprised. "There are more people with powers? I had never met anyone else like me before now," he said.

"There are. We don't have many students, but I think you should talk to the Professor. He runs the place," I replied.

"Fine, I'll meet with him," he said. "But no promises."

I smiled, but suddenly, I felt a stab of pain from the inside of my head, and I blacked out.

/X\

When I came to, the first thing I registered was my leg. It was hurting like someone had crushed it into a million pieces. I yelled and clenched my hands together. I tried to look around through the pain, but I couldn't see anything. I clicked my tongue loudly and watched the sound waves bounce around.

I was underneath a large pile of rubble of some sort. I looked to where my legs were and clicked again, tears now streaming from my eyes. I could sense a large boulder on top of my leg, pinning it to the ground.

"Help!" I yelled. I tried to project my voice outside of the rubble, but they were so thick, I had no idea whether anyone could hear me or not.

"Help me!" I tried again. I tried moving my leg, but the pain nearly caused me to black out again. I rested my forehead against the ground, keeping my ears open. I tried to remember how I got there.

 _I was talking with Lance... We fought... We laughed... Pain in my head..._

I couldn't remember anything past a large stab of pain from inside my head. It had to be a telepath. Someone powerful enough to render me unconscious.

I thought for a while, but the only two telepaths I knew were Jean and the Professor, and neither would do something like that.

As I kept thinking, it started getting harder to breath. I started panicking as my brain went into overdrive. _I'm running out of air... I'm running out of air... I can't move... I'm going to die._

I pushed myself off the ground as much as I could and took in a deep breath, before expelling it in a loud yell, "HELP!"

As I yelled I took the sound waves and pushed them against the rubble around me. I directed it into a blade-like wave and put as much energy as I could into it. With a _CRACK_ , it split through the rock, and I could dimly hear voices on the other side through the crack.

"I think I heard something," said a voice. I thought it was Jean, but I couldn't tell.

It was getting even harder to breathe, and the monumental pain in my leg wasn't helping matters at all. I took one final deep breath and expelled it in a final yell.

"HELP!" I pushed the sound waves through the rubble, and I could hear people reacting to it, but it was getting dimmer and dimmer...

I felt someone grab my arms and pull, causing even more pain in my leg, but I couldn't do anything about it...

Everything was light for a moment, but then it all faded to black.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: The reason it took so long for me to update is because I really hated watching the episodes for exact words as I wrote the chapter. It was incredibly boring and made me not want to write. Leave a review on whether you would prefer me to actually use the episode for the chapter or just use a synopsis from the interwebs. Keep in mind that I will probably be more exact with the actual episode, but it will take me much longer to update.**

 **-Fen**

When I woke up, the first thing I registered was a ridiculously bright light. Naturally, it was shining right into my eyes, but I couldn't move my hands to shield them. I blinked a few times and took a deep breath.

I tried to remember where I was. I dimly thought, _This is getting old quick,_ but I couldn't figure out why. The light was seriously starting to bug me at this point, so I closed my eyes again. I tried to open them again, but I couldn't. They were so heavy, I just wanted to sleep.

I forced them open again. I realized that I couldn't hear anything. Normally, I could hear at least one thing, but this time, I couldn't hear anything. It worried me, but I was too tired to notice. I closed my eyes and kept them there.

I slept for a while, but I had no real idea for how long. When I opened my eyes again, I could suddenly hear.

Sound assaulted my ears, and I struggled to concentrate on just the ones in the immediate vicinity, but I couldn't. I took a deep breath and wrestled with my brain, trying to tune out the sounds of the whole place I was in. I closed my eyes and brought my hands to my ears.

I took a few more deep breaths and calmed myself. I opened my eyes and concentrated on just the sounds around me. After a few moments, the sounds went away, and I was able to take a proper look around.

I was in a bed, with white sheets and a white pillow. I looked around, craning my head to look behind me. There was an IV drip running out of a bag and into my arm.

I was in a hospital.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. There was a heart rate sensor on my finger. I smiled and took it off. The machine that was attached started to emit a shrill beep, and I winced at the sound. I heard doctors and nurses rushing towards my room, and I slipped the heart rate sensor back on.

As the doctor arrived, he looked at the heart beat machine before he looked at me. I smirked and held up my finger. He shook his head and sighed as I chuckled.

"My name is Doctor Donald Blake," the doctor said as he introduced himself. As he held out his hand for me to shake, I looked at his appearance. He was in his early thirties, I guessed, and he seemed to favor one of his legs. I took his hand and shook it.

"My name's Theo," I responded.

Doctor Blake grabbed a clipboard from next to my bed and looked it over. "Your Professor gave you all your medical information when he brought you here," he said. I nodded, but was surprised that the Professor had actually brought me to a hospital. I tried to remember why.

"Full name, Theodore Ronald Lalanne, height, six foot one, age, sixteen," the doctor rattled off. "Sound right to you?" he asked as he sat down on a chair next to my hospital bed

I nodded confusedly. "Why am I here?" I asked. Doctor Blake looked me in the eye.

"Theodore, you came in here with a shattered right leg and minor asphyxiation. Your professor said that you were almost crushed under a large pile of rubble after an earthquake hit the building you were in," he said.

I nodded slowly. I kind of remembered darkness, but not much.

"You were in surgery for three hours as we repaired your leg. You will be fine after some physical therapy," he continued. "What do you remember about the quake?" he asked.

"Doc, I really don't remember anything. I was talking to someone after lunch and then... some darkness, then here," I said. I struggled to remember what was happening.

Then something occurred to me. "Doc, why don't I feel any pain?" I asked.

I reached under my blanket and found a cast wrapped from right below my knee to my foot, but I didn't feel a thing.

"You are on heavy pain killers. You've been out for about twenty hours," the Doctor said. I looked at him squarely.

"When can I leave?" I asked.

Doctor Blake looked at his clipboard again, flipping through a few pages that were on it. "Your Professor said you have a physical therapy area in the place you are staying," he said. "If that's the case, then you should be able to leave in a few days. However," he grabbed my arm, "walking will not be easy. You will need crutches or a cane for a long time, until you can walk unaided."

I nodded. The Doctor nodded back and left the room. He stopped in the doorway before turning back. "Don't try the heartbeat sensor trick again."

I chuckled as he left the room fully. I looked around for a remote to the TV in the corner of the room but couldn't find one.

After looking for a while, with no success, I eventually just sat back in my bed and waited for a nurse to arrive. I closed my eyes and listened to the rush of the hospital. I could hear nurses out and about, going through their duties, checking on patients.

I kept letting my field of hearing increase. I went very slowly, so as not to cause a major headache, but I kept increasing. I was interested in what I heard and "saw."

For kicks, I started concentrating on a single nurse. I focused my hearing on her. I heard her check on some patients, one of whom seemed to be a little kid. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but the nurse seemed sad, and the kid erupted after she said something. I decided I didn't want to know.

I used the sound waves to see if the Professor was nearby, but there were so many people in wheelchairs, there was no way to tell.

I opened my eyes and looked at the clock after a while. It had been almost two hours since Doctor Blake had seen me.

I started to feel pain in my leg, the one that was crushed, but I didn't have anything to signal a nurse with. After a while, and with nothing to do, the pain became the only thing I could focus on. It steadily grew worse and worse, like someone was rubbing a cheese grater on my leg from the inside.

I ripped the sheets off and tried to bring my leg closer to my body, but it hurt even worse to move it. I clenched my fingers and eyes shut. I tried to clench my toes as well, but it just hurt even more. I called for a nurse, but none came, and I couldn't concentrate hard enough to find one or call one using my powers.

I wanted to go home.

/X\

The nurse eventually arrived to give me food and the TV remote, but when she walked in, I was writhing on my bed, trying to get the pain out of my head. She rushed out of the room for a moment and returned a few seconds later with Doctor Blake.

He hobbled into the room and put a needle of something into the IV drip that was somehow still connected to my arm. I don't know what he put in there, but I fell asleep instantly.

It took almost two days for the Professor to arrive and take me home. He brought my cane, but Doctor Blake said I needed to use a wheelchair for a few days before I could move on to using crutches, and then from there I could use a cane.

The doctor gave me some pain killers that supposedly were ridiculously strong, but should keep most of the pain away. I hoped that I wouldn't have to endure the pain I had earlier.

No one was with the Professor, which saddened me a little bit, but I just shrugged it off.

"Where were you guys?"' I asked. I was struggling to keep up with the Professor in my new wheelchair. He hadn't given me one that was controlled with a joystick. I had to use my arms, and it was surprisingly tiring.

"They had school and midterms. They needed to study, so I kept them from coming to see you, though they did miss you," he replied.

I nodded. Making up all the tests I had missed was going to suck. I sighed and went down the wheelchair ramp with the Professor. I was surprised when we actually got into the cloaked X-Jet instead of one of the Institute cars.

"Where are we going, Professor?" I asked.

He looked at me and replied, "Home, but there is a Danger Room demonstration you will not want to miss, Theodore. We will be lucky if we get there in time for it to start. "

I nodded and rolled onto the ramp. It was much harder than it was when walking, and it took a while, but I eventually got up there.

I rolled up to the co-pilot's seat, where it slid into the floor and some rails took its place. I looked to the Professor, who nodded and rolled onto some rails where the pilot seat normally was. They latched onto the wheels of his chair so he wouldn't move in flight.

I rolled onto the rails, where they latched onto the wheels of my chair as well. A seatbelt descended from the ceiling, where I latched it onto myself. I gave the Professor a thumbs up as he took the X-Jet in a vertical takeoff.

I was prepared to zone out during the short ride to the Institute, but the Professor snapped me out of reverie.

"Theodore, are you alright?" he asked. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. I nodded.

"I'm fine, Professor," I replied. "Hey, whatever happened to Lance?" I asked.

The Professor sighed. "He did not come with us. We found him breaking into the office of the school, trying to get the answers for his midterm. It was a short time after that when we found you in the rubble. You were lucky Kitty can walk through walls, otherwise, well, we wouldn't be talking right now," he said.

I was impressed. "I'll thank Kitty as soon as we get back," I said. The Professor nodded ad we overshot the Institute and turned around to go into the waterfall.

A few minutes later, I rolled into the Danger Room viewing area. The Professor wanted to go check on Cerebro or something. I walked in just as the demonstration began. I decreased the sound waves coming from my body as I rolled in.

"Begin."

I watched on the small screen as Logan walked up to the gate from outside the walls of the Institute. He hopped the fences quietly, I knew he would try to sneak past the defenses, but would be unable to. Even the Professor didn't know where all the sensors were.

I was right. A turret silently slid up from behind a bush as he passed. He paused, sniffing the air... Suddenly he jumped, just as the turret fired. He sprinted toward the mansion, ducking so as to avoid the laser blasts from the turrets.

After a few moments, he made it to the mansion, crawling into an air duct. How he fit, I don't know. Scott switched the view to the air ducts as Logan crawled through them, eventually popping out inside of the attic.

"Impressive, you got past the automated defenses by using the air vents. But you won't get past me!" Storm said as she revealed herself, holding out her hand as she summoned the wind through the window.

Logan quickly jumped back into the air vents. I quietly chuckled, I knew Logan "never got scared," but it did look like it sometimes.

We watched as Logan crawled through the air ducts. "Testing me, hmm?" Storm asked. I quietly chuckled. This was going to be good. "Alright then, it's time you remembered why they call me _Storm_!"

As she spoke, she floated upwards, summoning lightning around her and releasing it. It was an impressive effect, but it served no real purpose. Outside, however, I could hear a dense storm brewing. I sensed Storm funneling all the rain from it and pushing it down the chimney, into the air ducts.

I chuckled as Wolverine was swept through the ducts and into the Danger Room.

"You look a little flushed, and the forecast isn't good," said Storm through the intercom. Wolverine jumped at the central control hub, but was blasted back by a blast of ice from Storm.

He flew into the wall, but stood up a few moments later covered in ice. I quietly chuckled to myself as he said, "Now that... was _cold_." Wolverine flexed and broke the ice covering him from head to toe.

A laser popped out of the wall and started shooting at Logan, which he promptly jumped towards and stabbed with his claws. The electricity arced through his metal body and blew him back, burning holes in his suit.

"Got any other party tricks?" he asked. I smiled. The Danger Room had gotten some upgrades. A cylinder popped out of the ground and ejected spinning blades, which Logan was able to jump over and get to the center. After a few slices with his claws, it stopped working.

"Stop," I heard over the intercom. It was the Professor. "For the moment, it is as much as we can afford, Wolverine," he said. The other students looked away from the spectacle and Kurt finally noticed me.

"Theo, you're back!" he yelled, dropping his bowl of popcorn as he zapped away, reappearing next to my wheelchair. Everyone else crowded around.

"Why are you in a wheelchair?" asked Jean. I looked up at her.

"Didn't you guys know what happened?" I asked. All of them shook their heads. I noticed that Kitty was hanging back, but still listening.

"What do you guys know?" I asked.

"All we know is that you were underneath a huge pile of rubble. Kitty said dragged you out," Scott replied.

I nodded. "I was talking with Lance, and then..." my voice trailed off. What _had_ happened?

"I don't remember. I just remember waking up in the hospital," I said.

Logan walked in from the Danger Room. He looked around for a moment before looking over to me. "Don't think that wheelchair is getting you outta weapons practice, kid," he said.

"Thanks, Logan," I replied. It was his way of welcoming me back, and I understood that.

I could tell Scott wanted to ask a question, but he was interrupted by the Professor bursting into the control room.

"X-men, we have an emergency. Scott, get the Blackbird prepped for launch." The Professor looked at us all with a smirk. "And since it's a weekend, assemble the whole team." I gave him a questioning glance. "I'm sorry, Theodore, but with your injuries, you won't be with us on this one."

I nodded solemnly. "What's the mission?" Scott asked.

"Cereboro has detected a new mutant in Caldecott County, Mississippi."


End file.
